Re: Making the Switch from Full Time to Freelance/Contract - Looking for Advice

[voxwoman <voxwoman -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Louise,

Make sure you have 6 months of living expenses in the bank (double the usual
"emergency fund"). Expect to wait at least 2 months for your first paycheck
after starting a gig - you typically bill monthly, and companies (on a good
day) pay net 30. Net 45 is more typical, and net 60 is not unheard of,
either. Once that pipeline is filled, it's OK, but that first long wait for
your first paycheck is not an easy thing. You also may have times where you
are between contracts and having that 6 month cushion keeps you from
panicking about the mortgage payment.

Contract positions can limit your shopping yourself as a freelancer. Pay
careful attention to the contracts you sign and don't sign any with
non-compete clauses (I've seen some that would prevent me from working as a
tech writer in my industry for 5 years after terminating my relationship
with the contract house). FYI, I have had bad experiences with Volt as a
contract house. The up-side with contracting vs. freelancing with your own
company is that you can collect unemployment between gigs if you're a
contractor (you can't if you're self-employed).

Expect to pay 1000/month for health insurance if you have to now insure your
entire family yourself (even through a contract house - they offer group
insurance, but they do not contribute any money towards it). You may also
need to carry liability and other insurances.

If you are going the self-employment route (and are working in the US),
remember to make quarterly tax payments to the IRS. On the up-side, you will
find that you can now deduct a whole lot of things as a business owner that
you weren't able to do before.

In my own case, I have had the most successful indie projects from people
I've worked for/with before. Either working directly for them as a
freelancer, or from direct recommendations.

I have also used freelance job boards and craigslist to find short term gigs
with mixed results.

Good luck!
-Wendy

On Tue, May 6, 2008 at 2:33 PM, Louise Kasemeier <louisekasemeier -at- yahoo -dot- com>
wrote:

> I've finally decided to take the plunge and make the switch from full time
> writing posiitons to freelance or contract positions and I'm looking for any
> advice or wisdom from people who have already done it. I've been a full time
> technical writer for ten years, here in the Atlanta area and previously in
> th UK. I've worked in the software industry for most of that time writing
> user documentation and internal/systems stuff, API references etc. In the
> past 2 years or so I've also been doing a lot of work with DITA and XML,
> both as a content writer and on the technical implementation side of things.
>
> I'm really looking for advice on the best way to find contracts and to get
> my name out there. Should I use an agency or contact potential employers
> myself? Are there any good web sites or other resources out there that I
> should be looking at? Anything really that you think a newbie freelancer
> should be aware of.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Louise
>
>
>
>  ____________________________________________________________________________________
> Be a better friend, newshound, and
> know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.
> http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
> printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
> Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
> http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
>
> True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
> Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
> documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as voxwoman -at- gmail -dot- com -dot- 
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> or visit
> http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/voxwoman%40gmail.com
>
>
> To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
> http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.
>
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or 
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007 
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.